Wire-formed bag holders for flexible film-type plastic bags have been developed heretofore.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,504 discloses such a wire-formed bag holder, which is adapted to be mounted on the inside door of a kitchen cabinet, or otherwise secured to a vertical wall. Another embodiment was adapted to be mounted on a horizontal support. This member has a wire-frame section adapted to contain the bag. The wire-frame has an upper rim about which a marginal portion adjacent the open mouth of the bag may be placed, has a lower bag support, and has a means for supporting a roll of bags beneath the bag support. This device, however, appears to be adapted for use with one size of bag, and does not appear to be foldable into a compact size or container for purposes of display and sale.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,983 discloses another type of wire-formed bag holder. Again, the bag holder may stand on a suitable support, or may be mounted to a vertical surface, such as the inside of a cupboard door. This device has certain front and side loops so that the holder is adaptable for use with different types of bags. However, this device does not appear to be useable with different sizes of bags.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,654 discloses yet another bag holder for supporting open-mouth plastic bags. Here again, this patent discloses a bag holder having a number of hooks for use with different types of bags. However, this device does not appear to be foldable into a compact container for purposes of display and shipment.
While such bag holders are known and are believed to be in widespread use, they are commonly sold in dispenser racks in various retail outlets. These dispenser racks may be physically inclined such that as the consumer withdraws the container or package nearest to him, the additional packages in that rack will automatically advance forwardly toward the consumer to fill the void just created by the withdrawn package. In this regard, it would be desirable if an improved bag holder could be folded or otherwise placed into a compact package. This would readily lend itself to use with dispensers. Moreover, the smaller the package, the larger the number of such packages that could be held in a dispenser rack or on a store shelf. One problem that has been experienced heretofore is that if such packages are large in size, and are quickly sold out, store personnel will not refill the dispenser as soon as it is empty. Rather, they will wait for the next convenient opportunity, which may be at the end of the day in some cases or several days later in others. Hence, it would be highly desirable to package the bag holder in a small compact package such that a large number of such packages could be placed in a dispenser or on a store shelf.
In addition, it would be desirable to provide an improved bag holder that is capable of use with different sizes of bags.
It would be further desirable to provide an improved lid for use with such a bag holder, wherein the lid contains a closable compartment for storing fresh bags in an immediately-available ready-to-use position.
It would be further desirable to have an improved wire-formed bag holder in which certain in-turned portions are insertable into eyes at skewed angles such that the in-turned end portions may not be freely and easily pulled from the eyes.
It would be further desirable to provided an improved bag holder for use with bags having capacities of about 21 liters, wherein the various portions of the wire-frame member may be placed into an elongated rectangular package having a transverse cross-sectional area of less than about 37.0 square inches.
It would be further desirable to provide an improved bag holder for use with a bag having a capacity of about 6½ liters, wherein the wire-frame member may be placed into an elongated rectangular package having a transverse cross-sectional area of less than about 30.0 square inches.
It would be further desirable to provide an improved bag holder for use with bags having 15 and 21 liter capacities.